National Bank of Canada FI Grows Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 90.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 236,397 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 112,007 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.09% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $97,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,817 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $980,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% in the third quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 664 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 756 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% in the third quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,114 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, Shariaportfolio Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $1,440,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,819,732.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,250,727.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VRTX shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.86.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $401.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,064,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,004,237. The stock has a market cap of $103.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.88, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $409.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $400.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $320.01 and a 12 month high of $448.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.